Chuck vs the Control Factor
by RagnarWolf
Summary: Sometimes things go from bad to worse to horrible. My first fanfiction and something that came to me after watching the last few episodes. Would love to hear feedback on this since its my first fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Fanfic, and so would love to hear any feedback you can give me on this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck or NBC otherwise Chuck would be with Sarah.

Chuck vs the Control Factor

Chuck was awaken by the sounds of Ellie and Devon in the kitchen making breakfast. Rather than get up and around for work he decided to lay in his bed and think about his life at this point and his lack of success with the many aspects of it. His expulsion from Stanford was the beginning of a downward spiral of his life and the control of it that was daily taken away by forces far greater than him. The day he was given the Intersect by his ex-best friend, was another day that his reality was chipped away again, Bryce made his life be in constant danger and lies to protect those he loved. And then his handlers came into his life and again his reality of controlled was pretty much chipped down to nothing at all, he was a pawn and no matter what how he tried to capture some of it, he knew that any control he was able to obtain was a fleeting taunt quickly taken away by others. And then there was Sarah, the beautiful and mysterious CIA agent that was assigned as one of his handlers and bodyguards. From the moment he first saw her Chuck knew that he would do anything for her and he basically gave any remaining control he had of his life to her to manipulate and handle until he knew longer knew what was real and what was not. He admitted he was in love with Sarah and at times he thought she felt the same way, but other times she rebuked him and made him feel less than alone and vulnerable. When Bryce had come back briefly his insecurities with himself came out in full force, and he fully realized that he was nowhere near the league that Sarah played. And if Bryce was not enought to compete with then comes this great looking super spy from MI6 that Sarah seemed to be attracted to, and Chuck knew that once again he would never be able to compete with someone like him or anyone else from that side of Sarah, that was from the world of espionage. His thoughts however were on the image of watching Sarah kiss the MI6 agent Cole. His insecurities came flooding back to him all at once, as he laid there thinking that he would never be with Sarah.

The sounds of Ellie and Devon, gave him both comfort and pain as he moved to finally get up, they had given him a place to stay when he thought his world had collapsed back from his expulsion. But he had been feeling that he had been holding them back from enjoying their own life and dreams. His thoughts were interrupted when his door was gently opened by the one person that he truly admired and loved.

"Hey sleepy head, I made some breakfast for you," Ellie Bartowski said as she smiled at him. "You Ok?" she asked as she noticed the faint traces of sadness in his eyes.

"I am fine, just a little tired. I could not get to sleep last night so was up most of it." Chuck lied to his sister, another thing that he had been forced to do since the Intersect.

:"Well if you have trouble sleeping tonight let me know and I will give you something to help you. I am a doctor, and more importantly I am your big sister." she laughed at that seeing the smile creep up on his face. "You know you can talk to me if you want, I will listen to you and you can tell me anything. I will always love you and be here for you."

"Thanks sis, I will let you know you if I need the help with the sleeping, but I was just probally wound up with my thoughts of the Call of Duty game that is suppose to be released tomorrow." Chuck gave her a smile they both knew was fake as another piece of his chipped way control feel.

"Well try to eat something before you go to work, it will give some energy to make it until lunch."

she said as she left her brother to get ready for work. Her unspoken worry for him evident in her eyes as she walked out of the doorway.

Chuck closed his eyes and leaned on the now closed door of his room, as he whispered. "I am so sorry, Ellie. I really wished I could tell you, but the only control I have is in protecting you from dangerous people." Chuck sighed deeply and then set about getting ready for work, knowing he was going to have to come up with a plan to at least get some kind of control back in his life.

_____________________________________________________________

Across the courtyard, John Casey was listening to the morning conversation of Chuck and Ellie while he finished up the report from the mission with the MI6 agent and how it the situation had almost had gone bad for the Intersect. It did not take a spy to know that Chuck was in a dark mood today and Casey had a pretty good idea what it was. Casey knew that Chuck had it bad for Sarah Walker, and he was pretty sure that she had something for the nerd also. Casey knew it was a bad idea for an agent to get involved with their asset, but Casey realized that Agent Walker and Sarah were two differnent people. And he trusted Agent Walker to do her job without emotion or feeling and as long as that happened then he figured that Sarah Walker could be giving a break. Hell Casey was even rooting for Chuck to "tame" the legendary Agent Walker, but he would never say anything to either one of them. He did have a reputation as a hard ass to maintain. Just as he realized that Chuck was finishing his conversation with his sister and starting the shower, his cell phone rang letting him know that General Beckman was calling.

The screen of his television suddenly came on and General Beckman was sitting in her chair like she always did.

"Morning General," Casey addressed his superior. "Agent Walker is not here, I thought the briefing was later today. I can call her real quick." Knowing that if the General wanted Walker here she would have called her to let her know. But he knew that sometimes you better make sure.

"That is not necessary, Major. I just wanted to let you know that the new Intersect has had a small delay and will not be ready for at least another 6 months." the General stated matter of factly with a small amount of annoyance in her voice at the delays. "Will this be a problem?"

"No, General." Casey stated, silently glad that he could put off his assignment of eliminating Chuck for a little while longer. He hated that he was just going to be taken out after doing so much to help and not really asking for any of this. However instead he replied, "The asset has been more helpful lately with the Intel he flashes on in the missions, so it should not be an issue."

"Good to hear, Major. Let Agent Walker know about the delay and to maintain the asset's security. Oh, and Major keep an eye on Agent Barker, if he knows the Intersect and if looks to be trouble you have orders to eliminate him. Understood?

"Understood General, what about MI6?" Casey wondered what repercussions would come from US allies if they found out that the NSA had killed one of their own.

"If it comes to that, make it look like Fulcrum took action on him." General stated as she signed off.

Casey knew this was going to be the start of a long ass day. And it wasn't even 8:00am yet. As he headed for the door to pick up Chuck and head to the less exciting work of the Buy More. As he locked the door behind him and set the security system up, he turned to see Chuck coming out of his own door.

"Well nice to see you finally up and moving your ass, Bartowski. Not like we have a world to save or anything." Casey ribbed Chuck hoping to get a rise out of the younger man. "What? did you expect to see your girlfriend waiting anxiously for you?

"Not today, Casey. I have a huge headache and not really in the mood to deal with your constant jabs." Chuck flatly stated, he just was not in the mood to put up Major John Casey, NSA agent and general pain in the ass for one Charles Bartowski.

"Ahhh, would you like me to get your little girlfriend to put some ice on it and give it a kiss to chase the boo-boo away?"

"Just shut up, Casey. For once just keep your mouth shut and leave me alone alright. I don't need your shit today." Walking a little faster to avoid Casey response. As he felt Casey grabbing his arm and spinning him back so fast that he lost his balance and fell hitting his the arm on the outside fountain hard. "Jesus what is your problem?"

"Don't get me started Bartowski, now get your ass up and lets go." Deciding that he had gotten mad at Chuck's attitude and would be better if he just dropped the whole ribbing today. His anger had always been an issue with himself that he failed to see the pained look on Chuck's face as he got up from his postition on the walked to the car holding his arm. "Dammit, this is going to be a really long day it seems," Casey whispered to himself already regretting his actions.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah was reporting for her shift at the Orange Orange and replayed the events that had occured on the their last mission. Things felt awkard for some reason today and she could just not put her finger on what was bothering her. And just as she was trying to place the feeling, an image of Chuck entered her head and a small smile appeared at her mouth. She thought that Chuck had an uncanny way about him that always brought a smile to her. She knew that Chuck wanted more from her, and she wanted to give it back to him. But her professionalism always showed its ugly head, just as she was going to give in to him. Things were complicated and at the moment she just didn't know how to fix it between them. And on top of everything else a new complication entered the picture in the form of MI6 Agent Cole Barker. She admitted to herself that he was attractive and was in the spy game himself, so would understand what she was. And when he kissed her all the pent up passion that she had for a certain curly headed nerd came out before she could stop it and she had kissed him back. The kiss took her back to a time when she was with Bryce and she felt she did not have hide a part of herself, but then another feeling came up inside her and it was a mixture of lust and guilt. Lust from the pent up sexual tension that she herself had created with her fake relationship-want to be something more relationship with Chuck. And guilt for giving in to the moment of weakness with someone that was not her Chuck. She really did not want to think about this today but since Agent Barker was going to be here with her alone for the next couple of hours, her thoughts betrayed her.

"Dammit, this is going to be a long day, " Sarah spoke out loud to the empty room she thought she was in.

"Well luv, it doesn't have to be a long day, I am sure I could find us something to keep us occupied." Cole Barker, MI-6 agent and playboy extraordinare said, his British accent giving him that little bit extra attractiveness. "I do hope you are not refering to me being here, that would be such a shame."

Sarah jumped a little at the sudden interruption of the empty room, she had not heard him come up behind her and had startled her a little. Thinking that this was so not helping her, she turned to see him with that British smile and she lost her train of thought entirely. "Dammit" she thought to herself. "You know you really should sneak up on someone who can kill you a hundred different ways" she said aloud.

"I could think of worst ways to go, you know we never did finish our little wrestling match from my hotel room the other night. I am willing to start over from the beginning and see where it leads again." As Cole turned on his charm and smiled that mischevious smile that Sarah was drawn to for some reason.

"I think we have wrestled enough," trying to regain some measure of control again. "I think we should go over your exit strategy again. We can't take chances that Fulcrum will try to capture you and since you know who the Intersect is they will double their efforts." Sarah stated trying to stay professional and knowing she losing footing with the handsome spy.

"Well they say the thrill of the hunt is an aphrodisiac in our circle, luv. And I know that it gets me excited knowing that I am stalking my prey ready to pounce at any moment but waiting til the last possible moment to let the anticipation of the capture build in intensity." Stepping closer to Sarah as he flashed her that smile that had worked for him so many times in the past. Seeing the prize that he saw before him and using all the skills he had learned to capture this exquisite looking woman that was as beautiful as she was deadly. Someone that was an equal to him, in everything. "What do you think about that, luv. Do you like to be the hunter or the hunted?"

"I think we...." not able to get the sentence completely out of her mouth before her lips were being pressed in a kiss from the British agent. As the kiss deepened in intensity, her rational thinking left her and all thoughts quickly followed. She felt Cole's hands wrap around her back and draw her in closer to him. And just like that Agent Walker left the building and Sarah the woman asserted herself with closed eyes she deepened the kiss and gave in to that deep hidden passion she kept buried. The outside world faded and with it the spy game with it. As their lips broke apart she whispered one little word with all the love and passion so siliently Cole barely heard what she said, "Chuck"

Cole stepped back and looked at the blond spy with an astonished look of surprise. He was uncertain of what had just happened and was a little taken back with this development. "Who?"

he asked the blond agent who still was lost in the moment. Neither of them had noticed that the someone had entered the store and had watched them for a minute, until they heard.

"Oh, I am so sorry" the hurt and rejection clearly evident as he set down the bag he was holding on a nearby table. As he turned to leave just as fast as he could muster. He got in the Nerd Herd mobile and drove off heading to the appointment that he had been on when he had decided to surprise Sarah with a blueberry muffin from the new bakery that had opened up in the mall yesterday. He sped off just as the door to the Orange Orange opened and Sarah came running out.

"Chuck wait! Chuck!" Sarah yelled at the Nerd Herd mobile as it took off faster than she could get to it. "Its not what you think." she whispered to herself feeling the pain of hurting the one person she cared most for in this world. Sarah the woman started to cry and ran back into the store to the ladies room where she threw up with the feeling of guilt she had just inflicted on herself.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she did not recognize the person she saw in the mirror as Sarah looked at herself and felt an overwhelming amount of guilt for what she had just did.

"Sarah, you ok in there?" Agent Cole Barker asked from the doorway to the ladies room, he was not sure what just had happened but he was pretty sure it was not good. And then he heard the soft crying of the only occupant in the room.

"No I am not fine, but please leave me alone for few moments. I need to some time to myself to figure this out." her voice was distant and emotionless as Agent Walker once again asserted itself to to protect the one thing no one before had gotten to ....her heart.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note: Thank you to all that reviewed my story. I do appreciate them, I hope they continue. And once more I don't own Chuck or NBC.

Chuck just drove, heartbroken at what he had seen, he thought that what he had seen last night at the Orange Orange was just mistake and that he had not seen the what happened before or after the kiss. He was going to trust in Sarah one more time and let her explain it to him, which he was hoping she was say something when he surprised her with the muffin. However, that all came crashing down when he walked in and saw them once again embraced in a passionate kiss that he had only dreamed of having with her. At that moment the pain in his arm was dwarfed by the pain as his heart broke into a million tiny pieces. He watched them for a few moments in silent despair before realizing he was interrupting something between them that should be a private moment between two lovers starting out a new relationship. And excused himself as quickly as he could, he had made it to the Nerd Herd mobile and was already towards the exit when he saw Sarah run out, and he realized that they were so into each other that he had actually snuck up two trained super-spies and had not only escaped but was part way gone when they came around. He realized that Sarah much really be into Agent Cole if she had let her guard down that much. His mood swirled in a downward spiral as he weaved in and out of traffic heading to his Nerd Herd call. His cell phone rang and rang but he ignored it seeing it was Sarah, and he did not feel like talking to her at this particular time. As he pulled into his service call he put on his best Buy More customer service smile and headed in, the pain in his heart easing a little as the professional side of him temporarily gave him some much needed relief. His arm still hurt from this morning hitting the fountain, but he continued on with the service call putting his cellphone on vibrate to ignore the incoming calls of everyone but watched it in case the Buy More called him while he was out on call.

After a few hours of doing service calls, Chuck's arm felt like it was on fire so he decided to head over to the hospital where Ellie worked to see if she could take a look at. On the way over he saw that he had 18 new message from Sarah, he decided to ignore them for now he still was not ready to face that kind of emotional pain yet. Just as he was about to enter the hospital, his phone rang and he noticed that it was Casey's phone. Knowing that he would need to at least pick up one of his handler's call he hit the receive button on his phone.

"Bartowski where the hell are you? Agent Walker has been trying to get ahold of you for the last couple of hours. Just like you to go and get in trouble and expect us to come bail you out." Casey started to rant at Chuck, his annoyance was starting to show because how worried he actually was for his asset. Unfortunately he expressed his worry in the only way he really knew how, with anger and annoyance. "I mean its not like the damn United States government has decided sent two of its top people to be your damn babysitter. Now tell me where the hell you are so I can come and get your sorry ass."

"Go to hell, Casey," replied Chuck as he hung up on the NSA agent. He knew that he would pay for that later, but he was not in the mood to deal with Casey childish temper tantrums.

Just as he turned to go into the hospital he saw a old lady trying to pick up her stuff that had fallen out of bag. Chuck ran over offering to help her pick up never noticing the silver Porshe that pulled up in the parking lot with a certain blond spy. Smiling a talking with the old lady lifted Chuck's spirit a little, he was after all a good person at heart and enjoyed helping others when he could. Back in the Porshe, Agent Walker silently watched her charge from a distant feeling this would be a bad time to go confront Chuck. She knew him by looking him that he was still angry and hurt, no one except probally Ellie or Morgan would be able to tell from looking at him but Sarah had spent a lot of time studying the lanky nerd memorizing every little detail and expression that he exhibited. And right now she could tell that any approach on her part would not result in a good chat, so she decided to do survelliance. She did wonder why he going to the hospital, but figured it was probally to see Ellie for something. She was going to make her way to the hospital but just as she opened her car door, her phone rang. Looking down she saw that it was Casey, so decided to take the call before going in.

"Walker, secure" Sarah answered the phone a little annoyance in the tone but not enough that Casey would detect. "

"Sarah have you found Chuck yet?" Casey asked, his temper quite evident in his voice. "That little punk hung up on me without any good reason."

"Its fine, Casey. I have Chuck in sight right now and am watching him. He is at the hospital that Ellie works. I figured he came to see her for some reason." Sarah answered in the best professional tone possible.

"What the hell happened between you two? He was giving me attitude this morning as well when we left for work this morning. Did something happen between you two last night?" Casey was curious about what exactly happened, since he could tell Chuck was upset over something. And the only time he was ever upset like he was when him and Sarah got into it for some reason, and he was pretty sure that whatever it was it involved the MI-6 agent.

"I will explain late, Casey. I need to be watching out for Chuck at the moment, so why don't we leave this conversation for another time." Sarah answered curtly and pretty much gave the impression that they would not be discussing this matter until she decided the time was right.

"Fine but you bet your pretty little ass that we will be discussing this and maybe I won't wrap that boyfriend's head around a pole either." Casey fumed deciding that he had just about had enough of this assignment, Beckman's order for Bartowski had put Casey in a situation that was eating at the very core of himself. Follow orders from his superiors or do the right thing for a fellow agent regardless of his lack of training or hiring.

Sarah hung up on Casey at that point and was just about to get out of her car again when the phone rang. Looking down at the caller, her heart nearly stopped when she noticed that it was Chuck calling. Reaching down for the phone she picked it up slowly and hit the receive button.

"Hey Chuck, I need..." Sarah started but was interrupted before she could get any further.

"I don't want to talk to you right now Sarah. Just go leave me alone for a little bit, let me figure this out on my own." Chuck said calmly but she could hear the restrained anger and hurt in his voice. Please just give me a moment to collect myself."

"Please Chuck, let me explain things." Sarah replied wanting to talk to him. "I ..."

Chuck's anger was starting to surface a little more as the Sarah just kept trying to talk to him.

"Sarah, I told you I don't want to talk to you right now just go back to Orange Orange and leave me be for a bit."

"Chuck, you know I have to protect you from other agencies. You know we can't let you be out in the open by yourself." Agent Walker's defenses came up hard, and her duty took over without any warning or preamble "Whatever you are feeling you can't let it control you. You are very important to the government."

"Yeah trust me I know what I am or rather not. I am not a spy. I am not an agent. I am not an employee of the government. I am not a successful software engineer. I am not anything useful. I am not your boyfriend." Chuck let some of his feeling from the day slip out while he was in the safety of being on the other side of the phone. "What I am though is a pathetic loser that lives with his sister and her boyfriend. An expelled student from Stanford whos only real girlfriend that he loved cheated on him with his best friend. Who works in a Buy More as the leader of the Nerd Herd making a pathetic eleven dollars hour."

"Chuck thats not.." Sarah started to say something that would help.

"But what I am mostly though is the government's secret intelligence bitch that is used and used with no thanks, while waiting for the order from Beckman to Casey to put a bullet in my head for know too much." Chuck stated, not wanting to let Sarah on that he knew about Beckman's order to Casey, but it accidently slipped out in his rush of emotions.

"What are you talking about Chuck, there is no order?" Sarah was now confused with this outbreak from Chuck it was so against is character. She did not know where this was coming and her mind was reeling with everthing that was happening at the moment but she needed to explain to Chuck about what he saw earlier. "Chuck, I want to explain to you what you saw this morning. Its not what you think." She started to explain.

"Yes I am sure it was a mistake and that I did not really see exactly what was going on. And I would probally listen to you and believe what you said, but then again I am not the complete loser you may think I am or as dumb as you think I am. I saw you last night also in the Castle when you were with Cole. So please save me the cover story, I get it really. I am not your type that is cool, I understand. I am not Bryce or Cole or even a agent. Believe me when I say, its ok. I want you to be happy and if it is not with me then with someone, and since I am obviously not what you want or your type then so be it. You are not the first beautiful woman to turn me down for being a nerd, not being atheletic, not being good looking or even being successful. So please just give me some time to get through this on my own and we can come up with a new cover story that will satisfy everyone until it is time for Casey to blow my brains out. Just go back to Cole and enjoy your life ok while you can, you know better than most that life can be short." And then Chuck did something he had never done before with her, he hung up the phone on her.

Sarah was shocked and confused at what Chuck thought of himself and what he thought she thought of him also. She did not even realize that she was crying until the she looked into the mirror to see someone she did not recognize in the reflection. "Oh Chuck you have no idea what I feel for you. I love you so much that it scares me," Sarah spoke to herself. And she wanted nothing more than to get out of the car and run into the hospital and find Chuck and explain everything. But something he said not once but twice got her anger up and for this she need to see John Casey's face, but first she would wait and make sure that Chuck was ok it was her duty after all.


	4. Chapter 4

The lone figure watched from a distance as his target paced the room inside the Orange Orange. He made sure that he was not seen by anyone, it was too dangerous for him to be here in this location. But he had no choice, he had a promise to fulfill even if it got himself killed. And if he had to go through Major John Casey and Agent Sarah Walker to make sure he kept that promise then so be it. It was his duty and his primary mission. So the lone figure listened on the bugs he had planted there earlier, the bugs where virtually undetectable at this range the power requirements were minimal so the bug would not be found unless an active search was done. He listened and watched the store, keeping track of all the principles involved in this matter.

Inside, John Casey and Cole Barker swapped stories of missions from the past both knowing that the specifics of the mission were omitted but enough of the story could be told to make interesting stories to those in the business. For his part Casey was moody and had tried to calm his anger down and talking to Barker it had that effect on him being able to talk to someone who was a civilian. Barker on the other hand boisterous of his missions and liked to make it where single handily defeated hundreds of opponents on any given mission. Both agents knew the rules of the game, stories were meant to be told to and embellished as long classified stuff stayed classified. Being allies was one thing, having yourself compromised by a foreign agent was inexcusable and probably get you killed somewhere down the line.

"So what is the story with Walker? She seems to run hot and cold?" Barker asked casually trying to get some information out of the moody NSA agent.

"Why don't you ask Walker? If you can't get her on your own, you don't deserve to get her if you get my drift. You seem the charming enough fellow to get her all hot and bothered, but then again who knows what her type is." Casey answered trying to be neutral about his partner. And besides his boy Chuck was the one that got Agent Walker all hot and bothered and he was not going to be one Sarah Walker's punching bag if he encourage Barker.

"Funny, Casey. Come on help a bloke out would you. I thought we had something between us with her being all hot with the kissing last night and this morning. And then all of sudden she gets all cold and withdrawn when that nerdy guy came in. Then all of sudden she takes off out of here leaving me with my motor running and nowhere to go if you know what I mean." Cole said casually not seeing the look that Casey's face had taken.

"What do you mean when Chuck came in? When the hell did this happen? So help me god why am I always the last too know this crap." Casey fumed.

"Yeah came in this morning and saw me and Sarah in the middle of good snogging and then he just turns and runs out. I had asked him he and Sarah were involved last night and all he said was 'that it was complicate'. So do you mind telling me what is up with them two?" Cole asked.

"Its complicated, and I am sure that Sarah will tell you all about when she comes back." Casey answered trying to piece together what was going on between his partners and how things seemed to be spiraling out of control. He decided he needed to avoid this line of questioning for now especially with a foreign agent who knew who the Intersect was. "So what are you planning on doing now?"

"Not sure exactly, I am pretty sure my cover within Fulcrum was blown so I am probally heading off the grid for a bit and then be reassigned. Maybe I can get Agent Walker to join me for some R & R, if you know what I mean." Cole grinned with the thoughts of a certain CIA agent. "I could tell she needs to unwind a little, if that kiss from last night was any indication. And I am more than qualified to help her relax."

Casey was beginning to get a little irrated at MI6 agent Cole Barker, "why don't you just keep it in your pants before you get hurt."

"Well I am kinda hoping that Walker comes with me, then I wouldn't have to keep it in my pants now would I." Cole answered, his charming personality starting to shrink away. It was all a show to Cole, his confidence was starting to diminsh at not being able to get Sarah into bed yet. Maybe a different tactic was what was needed, so he started to think of how he could best get what he wanted.


	5. Chapter 5

Chuck entered the hospital his conversation with Sarah had drained him completely and his arm was now in a lot of pain. He looked around at the emergency room looking at all the people that had normal lives that were just trying to make a living in the world free of the knowledge that what price that freedom was paid with. If envied this people really, they had their lives to themselves as much as that could be said for anyone. But they had choices they could make and were not in constant danger from those that would subvert those freedoms they took for granted. That was one thing that Chuck had learned and come to respect; there were a lot people that gave up their lives to protect the freedoms that most people took for granted. And the irony of the whole thing is that the ones that protected our freedoms with their services gave up their own freedom to ensure their duty was carried out. Chuck silently saluted those people not able to acknowledge a lot of them openly; he walked up to the counter and asked if he could see a doctor for his arm that was still hurting from this morning. He gave his name and was just about to sit down when Devon saw him in the waiting room.

"Hey Chuckster, what's up?" Devon asked in his cheerful demeanor that was infectious to others. "You hurt bro?"

Chuck liked Devon for everything he had done not only for Chuck himself but for his sister Ellie. Devon was so in love with Ellie, that Chuck could only be happy when Devon was around. Devon seemed to the type of person that never let the small stuff bother him too much and the big things where not too much either. He had a positive attitude with everything and never looked down on anyone his smile was infectious and most of all he loved his sister with everything he had.

"Yeah my arm is hurting and has been all morning since I fell and hit it on the fountain. I thought I just bruised it a little but the pain has gotten worse all day long and it is starting to swell in the last couple of hours." Chuck answered the pain in his arm getting to be a little more than he could bear. "Well let me see what I can do with some X-rays and then we well take a look at it. I can't send you to the ER since other people were here first and that would be rude but I we can skip the ER and go straight to the X-Ray room and take some pictures."

As Devon and Chuck walked to the hospital doors leaving the Emergency Room behind and headed to the nearest X-Ray room stopping only long enough at a nurses station to leave a message with Ellie that her brother was here getting some X-Rays, but not to worry it did not seem bad or serious and not to worry. Devon was taking the last X-Ray when Ellie Bartowski came into the room with a little worry on her face and went into doctor mode checking Chuck herself to make sure nothing was wrong with her little brother. After determine that there was nothing wrong with Chuck except his arm both Ellie and Devon looked at the x-rays and saw a fracture on his upper arm from where he had impacted on the fountain stones that morning. Working with his arms carrying equipment to and from his service calls had put some pressure on his upper arm increasing the fracture a small bit. They put a cast on his arm which restricted the movement tightly against his body and gave him some pain killers for the pain. Ellie offered to take Chuck home but said he could drive back on his own. Ellie reluctantly agreed but told him to take it easy and get some rest, which Chuck said he would.

Sarah was on full concern mode when she saw Chuck's arm with the restraining cast on his arm and almost got out then and rushed to him to make sure he was alright, but she knew that he was still hurt and angry and that she needed to give him some time. But still she was one of his protectors and she was duty bound to make sure he was ok, so she called him while she watched him from her car hoping that he would take her call.

Chuck exited the hospital and saw the silver Porsche of Sarah still in the same spot that it had been in earlier and he knew he was about to get a call. He was reaching for his phone when the call came and he picked it up on the first ring not even looking to see who it was.

"Hey Sarah, before you ask I am alright. I have a hairline fracture on my upper arm and the cast and restraint is on it to keep it from getting worse." Chuck explained before she was able to ask anything.

"What happened? Are you Ok? Is there anything I can do to help you out? Please let me help you?" Sarah asked full of concern.

"I don't think so. I just need to drop off the Nerd Herd car and then head for the house. Ellie told me I needed to get some rest and take it easy so I was going to take the rest of the day off and relax." Chuck answered with as little emotion as he could the hurt creeping back up on him as he talked to the one person he wanted most in the world, but did not want him back. He needed to take control of something in his life.

"Alright Chuck, I understand you don't want to talk right now but can I at least give you a ride home from the Buy More. I promise I won't say anything, it will just make me worried less if you made it home alright." Sarah wanted to talk to him so badly it hurt, but she knew Chuck was not ready to listen so she went for the next best thing which to be near him and if that meant a silent ride from the Buy More to Case Bartowski then that was what it was going to be.

"OK, I just need to head inside the Buy More and let Big Mike know and turn in my service call reports. But that is all just a ride home; I don't feel like talking right now."

"Deal"

Sarah followed Chuck back to the Buy More and noticed that Chuck was slightly swerving on the lanes with the cast restricting the arm he used to normally steer with but got into the parking lot safely. She waited for him while he walked into the Buy More and told Big Mike that apparently he had fractured his arm this morning outside his house when he fell and that he had gone to the doctor. Big Mike was a hard man to get along with sometimes and his manager skills were not going to be in any training manual for a long time but he like Chuck so he told him to take the rest of the day off and the next day off and he would apply some of Chuck's vacation time to it so he did not miss any time. Chuck had built up so much vacation time that if he took it all at once he would literally be gone for a few months so Big Mike let Chuck take his vacation days in days rather than weeks or months and Chuck could live with that since he really never went anywhere except for the Sci-fi conventions and those were usually on the weekends. Chuck was looking for Casey but did not see him anymore so he continued to walk out the door and into the awaiting Porsche.

The drive was silent with Chuck leaning his head back and kept his eyes closed due to the painkillers that Ellie had given him. Apparently that made him tired and he was getting sleepy and just wanted to lie down and forget this miserable day. He never looked at Sarah and was not going to say anything to her, but she spoke to him and he felt compelled to answer.

"So what happened to your arm?" She asked concern apparent in her voice, she so wanted to say other things but she had agreed to the drive and she did not want to upset him further for now.

"Oh I slipped and fell this morning and hit my arm on the fountain. I did not think I had hurt it quite this bad but the pain was increasing and it started to swell." Chuck answered matter of factly and without further details. He did not figure that she needed to know that it was Casey that actually threw him down that would be too much of a headache.

"Oh, well please be more careful in the future. I really don't want anything to happen to you Chuck." She knew he was lying or leaving something out but decided not to press the matter with him.

Soon they arrived and Chuck got out of the car as fast as he could one armed and headed for the front door. Just as he was turning away from the car, he looked backed and bent over to look in the window at Sarah.

"Thanks for the ride home, Sarah. You didn't have to though; I would have found a ride home with one of the guys, but thanks anyway. And I went what I said earlier, I really do want you to be happy." And with that he turned and walked off before giving Sarah a chance to respond. She just looked at him with a few tears in her eyes and said to no one else. "I want to be the one to make you happy Chuck, why can't I just tell you that. What is wrong with me?"

As soon as Chuck made it to his door and was inside, Sarah started her car and pulled it around to the back of the apartment complex and used the backdoor of Casey's house. They had both a key to it since it was there secondary headquarters and where a lot of their monitoring devices were at for the Bartowski house. She made sure that Chuck was inside by turning on the listening devices and she could the gentle snores he made indicating that he really had been tired and that he had fallen asleep. Next she turned on the video surveillance from the outside courtyard and rewound it to when Chuck and Casey usually left for work. Sarah watched as Casey and Chuck got into an arguing match that Casey just kept egging on until Chuck snapped. She watched as Casey grabbed Chuck and violently spun him around causing him to lose his footing and slam into the fountain hard. Now she was just pissed off at Casey for hurting her Chuck and that she could not tolerate, yes she hurt him emotionally but no one and she meant no one hurt him physically without answering to her. She turned the video off and locked back up and headed for her car, time to teach John Casey a little lesson in anger management. She was so mad she never noticed the figure watching Chuck's apartment.


End file.
